The American public is about to once again witness the liberals' total disdain for, and ignorance of, the dynamics of capitalism and our free market economic system. Liberals in the House have already passed legislation to increase the federal minimum wage three times over the next two years. They have clearly voiced their economy-killing positions on issues ranging from tax rate increases to dictating what companies should pay their employees.

Since Franklin Roosevelt's socialist New Deal policies, to Lyndon Johnson's budget-busting Great Society, through Carter's stagflation and Clinton's largest tax increase in history, liberal Democrats never fail to cook up schemes that deny individuals their economic freedom and shackle our economy. That's what they do.

The liberals' so-called new direction is in fact the same direction they always go when entrusted with the reins of power  backwards. The first sight in their targets is, as always, successful businesses and the specter of a nonexistent national income disparity.

The new Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), wants the federal government to work on reducing income inequality. He will no doubt conduct numerous hearings and eventually initiate legislation that starts us down a slippery slope toward capping executive salaries and compensation. Liberals want us out of their bedrooms, but cannot wait to get into corporate boardrooms.

The only obstacles facing liberals are the facts. CNSNews.com reported on January 5 that Frank plans to focus his hearings on: "Why the top income earners are making so much more than lower earners and what the government can do about it." Yet a Census Bureau study commissioned by the Congress's own Joint Economic Committee found that from 2001 to 2005 there was "virtually no statistical change in income inequality."

Rep. Frank appeared January 4 on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" to make his case for increased government oversight of corporate compensation. He argued, "I think we should let the owners of the companies decide what the CEO pay should be, and that's the shareholders." Earth to Congressman Frank, they already do! Corporate directors are elected by the shareholders and represent the shareholders. And in every corporate structure I am aware of there are corporate governance rules for nominating directors and changing directors if the shareholders are not happy with their decisions.

Congressman Frank added, "What we need to do is step in and amend the law because in some states where corporate law is set, shareholders who want to have a vote can't get one. What I propose is that we should pass a law giving the shareholders a right to vote on these issues." Most corporations are not structured that way, and if you can find some that are then shareholders can take their money somewhere else. Again, the facts and common sense are not on his side.

New statistics from the December 2006 jobs report provide additional facts that will surely annoy liberals. U.S. employers added 167,000 jobs last month, and the jobs figures for October and November 2006 were revised upward by 29,000 jobs. Additionally, the unemployment rate stood at 4.5 percent. Richard Moody, an analyst for real estate firm Mission Residential, stated in a January 5 Wall Street Journal story: "Perhaps the most noteworthy number in the December employment report is the 0.5% increase in average hourly earnings... December's increase in average hourly earnings reflects an over-the-year increase of 4.2 percent and, with the recent moderation in energy prices, workers' wages are now running above inflation." Now where is that economy that only benefits the rich?

Liberal whining over phantom inequality and a discriminatory economy will only increase when President Bush sends Congress his budget on February 5. Anything short of a 100 percent tax rate proposal on individuals and businesses will elicit liberal cries of budget cuts for children, veterans, the elderly, birds, bees and funding to teach children the birds and bees in government schools.

The Democratic leaders are expectedly claiming their victory is a mandate for any government-enforced tax, regulatory and spending idea they can concoct. Their true goal is to claim just enough populist and class warfare-driven victories to help ensure that they maintain control of Congress, and enhance the chances of electing a Democratic president in 2008.

Liberals are not only ignoring the facts, they are ignoring the threatened future of this country, and individual initiative and responsibility in order to achieve their not-so-new objective of an even bigger, inefficient and intrusive federal government.

The Democrats are not opposed to to the wealthy. Its more like an invitation to the rich to join them. Indeed, across the country, the most affluent communities vote heavily Democratic. Most millionaires today are Democrats.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

The American public is about to once again witness the liberals' total disdain for, and ignorance of, the dynamics of capitalism and our free market economic system.

Herman should spend a little time here on FR to find out just how many people, who consider themselves conservative, also disdain, and are ignorant of, the dynamics of capitalism and our free market economic system.

7
posted on 01/16/2007 10:45:59 AM PST
by Mase
(Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)

Their true goal is to claim just enough populist and class warfare-driven victories to help ensure that they maintain control of Congress, and enhance the chances of electing a Democratic president in 2008.

The democrats have a winner in that goal and in their tactics.

As long as the great majority of voters remain ignorant of market forces and as long as democrats make sure that they do remain ignorant, then the democrats will continue to win the votes of the ignorant and in reality the "dumb".

How can republicans cope with that if we don't know how to speak down to the "dumbed-down" public? The democrats know who their various constituencies are and they've perfected their tactics for winning those groups.

The republicans will only be able to win if the general public is "educated" in how government and the free-market works. Since most people won't take the time to get educated or won't care to get educated, then the only chance we have is to hammer that ignorant public with the real facts and hopefully and eventually, we'll stand a chance with that "ignorant" public. Simplicity works for the "dumb" masses. An example is the raising of the minimum wage. To the "dumb" public, the person getting the higher wage will benefit and will supposedly have a slightly better life. But, the general "dumb" voter does not know how to examine the overall effect of such a "higher wage" law on businesses and on their shopping and on taxes and on jobs that might be lost, etc.

As long as the democrats can continue to count on that kind of "dumb" voter, republicans lose.

To republicans, "an educated consumer" is our best hope. But, we can still go after the "dumb" and "educate" them.

You are correct though about the dumb being mislead by the wrong-headed democrat populist, class warfare rhetoric. I is the big liberal lie that has worked for them for ages. It does not work as well as it used to, but it still works for them.

You're correct regarding Rush and how he's taught so many, including myself.

But, for the most part, he's preaching to the choir. Most people tuning in to him are already republicans or conservative. The "dumb" public that I talk about would never tune in to Rush. They're lost forever if they never tune him in. There's got to be other and better ways to reach that ignorant public. And not just during election campaigns.

True conservatives need to create a successful niche on television! Conservatives need several news, entertainment, and sports channels with a 100% conservative viewpoint! Conservatives need movie channels with movies made by conservative movie directors! Conservatives need television news channels that are always politically neutral all of the time, and even the Fox News Channel, which is just one channel, keeps getting more and more liberal every year. There's a serious need for conservatives to truly be able to create some successful conservative television channels and help put an end to the leftist dominance of the television medium! This would also help to get more of the general public to pay more attention to everything conservative! How many more decades of a non-conservative presence does this country as well as all of the other world countries need when it comes to television channels?

What really cracks me up among the protectionist crowd is those that rally against "riceball" Japanese cars, seeing as most "Japanese" cars are now built in the United States. They were just smart enough to avoid the UAW. Also, the cars tend to be higher quality, making the "riceball" comment even more ridiculous.

Spot on analysis. I have been saying the same thing for a while. I have extended it to say that the reason Republican still win a lot of elections is because they do the same type of big-government populist pandering on social issues. That's why you get so many "conservatives" who only care about gay marriage and couldn't care less about free enterprise.

The problem is, both parties use the promise of government power to get themselves elected. That's why we have an ever-growing government with far too much power. Most educated people don't want more government, but to the less educated, it's easy to swoon them with the promise that you'll make things better for them.

"The problem is, both parties use the promise of government power to get themselves elected. That's why we have an ever-growing government with far too much power."

It's also why we have an ever growing welfare state that will eventually evolve into a totalitarian state, as government gives itself ever more power to pander to the group that's howling loudest for government benefits.

Government will need to grow more repressive as it steals more money from productive citizens.

Government is already stealing people's homes and businesses under Kelo. Why would anyone think it will stop there?

17
posted on 01/16/2007 1:31:12 PM PST
by sergeantdave
(Consider that nearly half the people you pass on the street meet Lenin's definition of useful idiot)

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